The New Girl
by Skate-815
Summary: 15 year old Samantha Nixon is new to Sunhill. How's she going to cope with finding friends and more importantly, a boyfriend? SamPhil eventually, with quite a bit of SamZain along the way, just to ease my own personal mourning of Zain :P Chapter 12 now up
1. New House

**Hi all. It's me with a new ff and I made it a school one, mostly because everyone has one and i don't. Well I do now :D**

**It'll start Sam/Zain because I'm writing it and the most of you know I'm obsessed with a certain DC. **

**It'll soon turn Sam/Phil tho so do not panic. As long as you review that is ;)**

Sam Nixon stepped out of her dad's car and gazed at the house that was to be her new home. She'd lived in Manchester all of her life up until now, and she was nervous about starting a new school, and trying to make new friends now. She approached the house somewhat nervously, almost as if she was afraid of it, and went inside.

She'd only seen the house once before, and she hadn't liked it then. Of course, her parents hadn't listened to her opinion and had bought it anyway. She walked into what was going to be her room and looked at the bare walls and boxes piled in every corner. It all felt so cold and unfeeling compared to her old house.

She sat down on her bed, and lifted her mobile to text her best friend, Sandra. She knew that it wouldn't be that way for much longer. Soon Sandra would move on, and make a new best friend, and Sam would hopefully be making lots of new friends once school restarted in a few weeks time. That was always the way when people moved. They'd say they would be friends for life and would never get a new best friend, but it was only a matter of time, be it days, weeks, months or even years, people moved on from childhood friends that they hadn't seen in so long.

Her mother came upstairs with a drink for her and an apologetic smile on her face. Sam just looked at her coldly. She knew they had to move or her father would lose her job. She knew they hadn't had a choice, but that couldn't stop her hating the decision with all her heart.

"Maybe you should go and introduce yourself to the neighbours" her mum suggested

"Maybe later" Sam said, lying back on the bed, staring at the plain white ceiling.

"Okay" her mum said, sighing and closing the door on her way out.

* * *

Sam lay there for ten minutes before deciding she was going to go for a walk. As she headed downstairs, her dad called to her,

"Where do you think your going? You have unpacking to do."

"I'll do it for her" her mum said, emerging from the kitchen, "Go out and meet some new people Samantha."

"Fine" her dad said, "But make sure you don't get lost."

"I won't" Sam sighed, shutting the door behind her and setting off at a fast pace, determined to get as much space between her new home and her as possible. However, as soon as she rounded the corner, she realised that she had no idea where anywhere was in this town. She decided to go home again, and wait until her dad was free so he could drive her to the nearest shopping centre.

Deciding that she didn't want to participate in the fiasco that would most certainly be the unpacking, Sam went around the side of her house, clambering over the medium height fence and dropping to the grass behind her house. The only good thing that had come from moving house was that this one had a garden, and even that wasn't that great as Sam didn't foresee herself using it very much.

She sat on the ground, gazing up into the bright blue sky. The sun was beating down on her, and Sam knew that if she got burnt, her mother would complain, but she couldn't bring herself to re-enter that house just yet.

She heard children laughing on the other side of the tall wall that separated her house from the one next door. They sounded too young for her to make friends with though, so she lay back and closed her eyes.

She had no idea how long she lay there, she may even have drifted off to sleep for all she knew, but the next thing she realised was something hitting her on the stomach. Instantly, she opened her eyes, and sat up. She glanced around her for the source of the attack, and noticed a scruffy looking football sitting next to her. She realised that it must have come from next door, and was about to throw it back when a small boy, he looked no older than 7, darted over the wall.

Suddenly, he realised she was there and froze in his tracks. They both stayed still for a couple of seconds, each astonished that the other was there. Sam took in the boy's appearance. He had black, sticking up hair and a an asian skin tone. He had a look of complete terror on his face as he looked at her. It was almost as if he was afraid she would hurt him or something. Slowly, Sam stood up, and threw the ball towards him. He caught it, but still stood in the same place, with a deer in headlights look on his face. She frowned and approached him, but as soon as she got close enough, he opened his mouth and screamed,

"Zain!"

"What?" an older voice shouted back

"Help!" the boy sounded terrified. In a few minutes, a boy that looked more or less her own age dropped down onto the grass too, beside the younger boy. He looked like an older version of him.

"Who're you?" Sam and the older boy both asked at the same time

"Sam Nixon" Sam answered first

"Zain Nadir" he said, looking at her a little warily, "I didn't think anyone was moving in 'til next week"

"We weren't supposed to, we had to move early." Sam answered. She glanced at what she assumed was Zain's younger brother, who was standing slightly behind Zain, staring at her

"Is he okay?" she asked,

"Yeah, it's just the person who lived here before you was a…" he hesitated, glancing down at his brother, "She wasn't very nice. She used to burst any balls that came in here; she even hit him once for going to get it."

"Oh. Well I would never…"

"I know that. You look much nicer than that old bat" he said, looking her up and down slowly

"Can we go back now" the young boy whispered

"In a minute" Zain said, flashing her a smile, showing her perfect white teeth. Sam smiled back, already liking the boy.

"What age are you" he asked suddenly

"Fifteen. You?"

"Same. You going to Sunhill comp?"

"Yeah."

"You might be in my class then." He said, grinning again.

"Yeah" Sam agreed hoping she would be. She would really like to get to know him better. They shared a moment, where they gazed into each others eyes, which was broken by the younger boy tugging on Zain's arm again.

"We'd better go before my mum realises that we're not there. I'm grounded" he laughed, turning towards the wall again. Before he reached it, Sam heard someone shout

"Zain! Tarek! Where are you?"

"Just getting a ball" Zain yelled back

He picked up his brother, and gave him a boost over the wall, throwing the ball over after him

"See you soon" he said, pulling himself over the wall too, leaving Sam alone in her back garden, staring after him.

**Yes, I stole TJ Ramini's name, but only because I love him so much. oh and i never know how to decribe Zain's skin tone so i putr asian 'cos Vikki told me to ;)**

**Come on ppl, press the big blue button.**


	2. Football

**Thanks to Vikki, Ami, Laura, kelbobs15, Becki, Sacha and Hogaboom for reviewing. There's definately going to be Phil (I actually have a plan for this fic, go me!) and there can be some Steve if people want him. **

**Thanks particularly to Laura, who motivated me to write (Yes this is emotionanal blackmail to get you too review- did it work?)**

Chapter 2

A week later, Sam had heard nothing from the scared little boy next door, or his older brother. She would have liked to think it was because Zain was grounded that he didn't come to see her, but she knew better. It had to be that he didn't like her, and wanted to let her down gently.

At her last school, Sam had been popular. However, she'd been the girl that was friends with the boys, but not their girlfriend.

Still she'd had hopes for Zain. He'd seemed to like her, but once again, she'd fallen into the same old pattern. _Meet a nice guy, fancy said guy, guy starts going out with one of your friends. _Not that she had any friends here to speak of. But it would be just typical that when she made some, Zain would start dating one.

The doorbell rang and Sam let her mum answer it. It would be someone for her father anyway. His business associates came round at all hours, and Sam had long since given up the vague hope anyone would be calling for her. However, her mum roared up the stairs,

"Sam! There's a boy from next door to see you." Sam instantly jumped up, smoothing down her clothes and checking her hair in the mirror. She raced to the staircase before walking down them slowly in as dignified a manor as she could muster. However she was disappointed when she realised it was just Tarek.

"Hi Sam." The small boy grinned widely, all his fears from last week totally forgotten

"Hey." She forced a smile, "What's up."

"Zain sent me to get you. He wants me to take you down to the park. He's playing football there today. And he said I was supposed to be subtle. What's subtle mean?"

"It doesn't matter." Sam laughed, "Just wait 'til I go get changed."

"He wants you to come now." Tarek ordered, smiling

"Okay." Sam said, grabbing a jacket and thanking God she'd put on makeup today, "I'm going out mum." She called, before shutting the door, and following the young boy, who'd set off at a run.

* * *

They were at the park in a couple of minutes and Sam saw Zain standing by the gate, wearing navy track bottoms and a red football shirt, trying to look like he wasn't waiting for her.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" he asked. He almost sounded convincing.

"You sent me to get her, remember?" Tarek piped up

"Shut up." Zain hissed.

"Well I heard you were playing football here today, and I thought I'd come watch." Sam decided to let him off

"Great," he said, before looking down, "You know I…" he was interrupted by a girl screaming,

"Hey Zain!" he turned his head sharply, and waved when he saw who it was. A girl with longish, ginger hair, ran the last few metres down the road, and hugged Zain. Sam felt a wave of jealousy rush through her, but ignored it. The girl meanwhile, was completely ignoring her,

"I haven't seen you all summer!"

"Yeah, well first you were in Portugal, and then I was in France, and then I got grounded."

"So I heard." She rolled her eyes, "What was it this time?"

"It wasn't my fault."

"It never is."

"So, who's this?" she finally noticed Sam.

"This is my new neighbour, Sam Nixon. Sam, this is Jo Masters, we're friends." What kind of friends, Sam wondered, but said nothing.

"So you'll be supporting me?" Zain asked. If Sam didn't know any better, she would have thought she'd heard a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Well…" Jo hesitated

"Please!" he half pleaded, "No one ever supports me."

"It's nothing personal; I just like to go for the winning team." Jo explained.

"We do win sometimes."

"Just not very often." She reminded him, "Anyway, Honey's coming. And Gary."

"And we all know who they'll be supporting." He grumbled.

"Nah Phil's at the dentist. You have a chance yet."

"Really?" Zain brightened considerably at Jo's statement.

"Who's Phil?" Sam asked, feeling left out

"A guy in our class" Zain said

"His best friend." Jo said at the same time

"He is NOT my best friend." Zain argued instantly

"Well who else have you got?" Jo teased

"You." He smiled, trying to win her 'round. A whistle blew in the distance, and Zain swore, setting off towards the pitch at a sprint, where everyone else stood, waiting.

"Don't worry." Jo said, as soon as Zain was out of earshot, "I'm gay."

"Oh." Sam said, not sure what else to say, but feeling pleased that she didn't have to fight her for Zain.

"And he really likes you, I can tell." Jo confided, giving her a reassuring smile.

* * *

Jo and Sam found a decent place to watch the match. Zain had stripped off the track bottoms, and was wearing black shorts. They heard another girl's voice shout Zain's name, and he glanced up quickly, waving before sprinting up the pitch to get to the ball.

"Is she gay too?" Sam asked hopefully

"Sorry, no." Jo replied, suppressing a grin, "She doesn't fancy Zain anymore though, don't worry."

"Anymore?" She asked

"Well most girls fancy Zain for a while, before they move onto someone else."

"Oh, okay." Sam said, wondering how anyone could like anyone more than Zain. Jo read her look and explained,

"Don't get me wrong, Zain's a really nice guy, but he's not good with relationships. He never knows what the girl's thinking, or what to do next, and it always ends badly."

"Oh." Sam said, feeling disheartened

"It could be different for you though." Jo hurriedly backtracked, "He's only really ever acted like that around one girl before."

"Acted like what?"

"Cocky, wearing as little clothes as possible around you." Jo said, nodding towards the pitch, where Zain was now playing topless, the football shirt abandoned near the corner flag, "He's usually really self conscious. He likes you."

"Who's this other girl?" Sam had to ask, "Is it that other girl?"

"No not Honey, her name's Laura. She and Zain were going out for a while, and then she cheated him when he wouldn't sleep with her."

"Why not?" she wondered. All the boys from her old school were sex mad.

"Like I said, Zain can't tell what a girl's thinking, and he wouldn't ask her in case she thought he was pressuring her."

"Oh." Sam said, again, trying to process the new information. By now, the blonde girl who'd waved at Zain had joined them.

"Hi Honey." Jo said, as she flopped to the ground beside them, and quickly made some introductions.

"Is he winning?"

"Haven't been watching. I think it's safe to assume he's not though."

"Is he really that bad?" Sam asked, glancing at the match

"He's not bad as such…" Jo began awkwardly, "He's quite good actually. The real problem is his team's crap."

"Why doesn't he just leave?"

"There are only two teams around her. This one and that one, he'll never go to the other one."

"Why not?"

"The other one's Phil's team." Honey said, as if that explained

"His best friend?" Sam asked, "What's wrong with that?"

"They used to be best friends. Phil's the one Laura slept with." Jo said gravely

"But you said…"

"They were good friends. Way too good for that slapper to wreck everything between them."

"If you're friends with Zain, why do you want him and Phil to be friends again? It's as much his fault as it is hers." Sam asked

"Because that girl didn't want Phil. She just wanted to hurt Zain, and she knows Phil can't resist someone who throws themselves at him. Plus they're both our friends, it's hard for us to choose one over the other…"

"Even when it's Phil's fault?" Sam asked.

"Well yeah." Jo said, "It's just hard, okay?"

"And Zain sort of had it coming." Honey put in

"No he didn't" Jo argued instantly

"He did. He kicked him and then Phil couldn't walk for a week."

"It was only a sprained ankle, and he didn't do it on purpose."

"Course he did. Zain has a temper, and you know it. Look here's Gary, he'll tell you." Honey said

"Like that proves anything." Jo rolled her eyes

"Gary!" Honey shouted, and a shortish boy joined them instantly from his position on the sidelines

"You called?" he asked

"Did Zain hurt Phil on purpose?"

"Definitely" Gary agreed

"And he's on Zain's team." Honey smirked triumphantly

"Well of course he's going to agree with you!" Jo rolled her eyes in exasperation

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gary said defensively

"Nothing." Jo muttered

"Damn." Gary muttered from his position above them

"What?" Sam asked

"Phil's here."

* * *

**So Phil v Zain... Who's side do you pick? Phil's 'cos you al love him, or Zain's cos Phil's being a git?? lol**

**Review!**


	3. Arguing

**Chapter 3**

**Thanks to mountlandlass, Lucy Trangate, IlOvEtHeBiLl, elle4phil, Vikki and Becki for taking time to review.**

Sam turned her head to see what the boy that could steal girls from Zain looked like. He was slightly taller than Zain, with brown hair and soft brown eyes, and he was walking with a slight limp. Overall, he was nothing special.

"Hey" Phil said, easing himself down next to Honey,

"Hi," Gary and Honey both replied. Jo simply nodded in response

"Still not talking to me?"

"I am talking to you Phil. I'm just really pissed off."

"He started it!"

"Can we not do this again?" she said icily

"Fine. So who's this?"

"Sam Nixon. She's Zain's new neighbour."

"Hey, I'm Phil Hunter." He needlessly introduced himself, "And living next to Zain, and talking to the ice queen over there has probably made you hate me already, but it's not as bad as it sounds."

"Okay." Sam said, wanting to sound impartial.

"So what's the score?" Phil asked

"Zain's 2 nil up." Gary filled in

"How is that possible?" Jo said, in mock astonishment.

"It's because I'm not playing." Phil said in complete seriousness

"You're modest." Sam laughed

"It's true though." He replied. Sam glanced at Jo, who seemed to be the only one that didn't love Phil.

"As much as I hate to add to his already massive ego, he's right, it is."

"See, even she agrees."

"Shut up Hunter." Sam had had enough of the constant bickering between them, and gazed out towards the pitch, where Zain was standing. A few seconds later, the ball was at his feet and he was running through the players in the opposite team. He kicked it towards a younger boy standing idly near the goalpost, who looked startled by the ball, and ducked. Zain closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again.

"I've no idea why he just doesn't go Phil's team." Honey remarked

"No idea at all?" Jo asked sarcastically

"Well I do, but I don't know why he didn't come in the first place."

"Because he's too loyal for that."

"Zain's not loyal; he just does what suits him." Phil argued

"Then why's he still with that team?"

"Because he wanted to seem like the martyr to impress Laura, and he can't go now because it's my team." Phil said simply

"He's probably right." Honey agreed.

"Say what you like about him, but he always manages to put on the rubbish players, even if you don't." Jo said

"His whole teams made up of rubbish players," Phil argued. The half time whistle blew, interrupting their conversation, and Zain came over, glaring at Phil.

"What're you doing here?"

"What does it look like?"

"Just bugger off Phil." Zain sighed, dropping down beside Sam.

"Why should I? I'm sick of you complaining. So I kissed your girlfriend once, big deal! You crippled me!"

"You're fine! And it was a lot more than once!"

"Prove it!"

"Laura told me!"

"She lied."

"Why would she?"

"She's crazy. And anyway, I still can't walk right."

"There's nothing wrong with you, you're just faking."

"Both of you shut up" Jo said suddenly, "This has gone on long enough. You're even."

"No we're not." Phil said instantly

"I thought you were on my side" Zain said sadly

"I was, before I got sick of your complaining." She said honestly, "Now I don't really care what happens with either of you."

"Well thanks a lot." He stood up, and headed towards the toilets. Sam sat still, wondering what to do.

"Go after him." Jo said to her, "He needs someone to talk to, and hopefully he'll have stopped whining before you can't take any more of it too. He's a sweet boy. Really caring, and loyal, but he doesn't let things go."

* * *

Sam found herself following Zain with no clue what she was going to do when she found him. A few moments later, she rounded the back of the toilet block and found him lost in thought. She cleared her throat to let him know she was there.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. First I lose my girlfriend, and then nobody cares. This has been a great month." He said sarcastically

"This is exactly why no one cares though." Sam said on impulse

"What?"

"Well Phil says he couldn't walk, and he's not complaining… very much"  
"That's because he could always walk." Zain rolled his eyes, "He's such a drama queen." They fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence and Sam heard a whistle blowing in the distance,

"You'd probably better go."  
"Probably." He agreed, but made no attempt to move.

"I'm on your side." Sam blurted out

"What?"

"Even if you did hurt Phil on purpose, he shouldn't have done that."

"Thanks." He smiled gratefully. He turned to face her, and their bodies were inches from touching. He slowly leant in to kiss her, but paused before their lips touched. Suddenly Sam remembered what Jo said about Zain never making the first move, and quickly closed the gap between them. Zain dropped the bottle he was holding onto the ground and wrapped his arms around her. After a few moments, he pulled away,

"So…" he said as casually as he could manage, "Want to go out with me?"

"Yeah," she replied breathlessly.

"Good." He smiled "I've wanted to do that for ages. Now I really got to go to that match. I'll see you when I'm done?"

"Definitely."

**Please review. there'll be some spness in about 2 or 3 chaps**


	4. Attack

** Big thank you to IlOvEtHeBiLl, Becki, Abi, Vikki, dolphincrazy and x-Karoline-x for reviewing**

**Chapter 4-**

Sam headed back towards the group of friends that were still sitting beneath the tree, but noticed that only Honey and Jo remained

"I'd thought you'd gotten lost." Jo commented as she sat down again, "Zain started playing again about 5 minutes ago."

"He ran. So where are Phil and Gary?"

"Gary's playing, and Phil's shouting at his team."

"Why?"

"Because the one time he isn't playing, they've started to lose." Honey explained

"And boys don't take losing well." Jo rolled her eyes

"Come on, I want to watch Gary." Honey said, standing up and walked to the sidelines. Sam and Jo followed at a slower pace,

"Are they going out?" Sam asked

"Nope. Gary fancies her like mad though, but I think Honey might fancy Phil."

"Really? Phil seems like such a prat."

"Yeah but all the girls love him. God knows why."

"But you said you were friends with him."  
"Well he isn't that bad if he's only a friend to you. You can't trust him to be your boyfriend though; he'll cheat on you as soon as someone else catches his eye."

"Zain doesn't cheat, does he?" Sam said in what she hoped was a casual tone.

"Why? Did he ask you out?"

"Yeah when I went after him."

"Well… Zain's not the most faithful guy in the world either unless it's someone he cares about. You should be okay. He really likes you." They joined Honey and Phil standing near the sidelines just in time to see Gary score. Phil groaned in despair,

"Even Gary's scoring! I leave them for one match and this is what happens!"

"It's not the end of the world Phil." Jo said

"I bet Zain'll be gloating for days."

"Yeah because you _never_ gloat." Jo scoffed. They watched as Phil's team finally got the ball and were about to score when the boy tripped over his shoelace and fell flat on his face

"That's it, I'm playing." Phil said, beckoning over a younger boy, and limping on to the pitch himself.

"Be careful!" Honey called after him, but Phil ignored her.

* * *

Sam had to admit, Phil did have skill. Even with his 'hurt' leg, he still managed to score twice, and to set up the ball for another boy, although Sam was beginning to doubt he actually was as hurt as he said. The limp he claimed to have disappeared at random intervals during play.

Zain and Phil didn't go near each other during the match. Both were strikers and both hung back when they saw the other with the ball. The game finished at 3 all, a score both teams looked happy about with the exception of their two captains. While the other boys shook hands, Zain and Phil stayed several metres apart eyeing each other warily. Finally Zain approached Phil, feeling all eyes on the pitch on him, everyone knowing of their history.

"We're even." Zain echoed Jo's words from earlier, "I'm sorry I 'crippled' you." Phil said nothing, just glared at him. Zain turned away, and then Phil's foot shot out and tripped him. When he landed on the ground with a thud, Phil kicked him hard in the stomach before calmly leaving the pitch.

"Now we're even." Phil shouted over his shoulder, and Zain noted the limp had completely disappeared now.

"We are so not even." Zain muttered, pushing himself up.

"Zain!" his little brother shouted, seeing him lying on the ground "Are you okay? Do you want me to get mummy?"

'No!" Zain said quickly, horrified at the thought of his mother fussing over him in front of his friends. For the first time he wondered where his friends and girlfriend actually were. Then he spotted them at the other side of the park, completely oblivious that he'd been hurt.

* * *

"What's the matter with you?" Honey asked, noting his annoyed expression as he eventually joined them.

"Phil attacked me."

"Don't exaggerate." Jo reprimanded, offering him a crisp from the bag she'd just bought.

"Did you see what he just did?"

"No, but it can't have been that bad if you managed to come all the way over here to complain about it."

"I said I was sorry about hurting him, and he tripped me and kicked me in the stomach!" Zain said

"Really? That doesn't sound like Phil." Honey frowned.

"It sounds exactly like Phil." Jo argued, "You're just too obsessed with him to notice."

"I'm not obsessed!"

"Prove it." Zain said suddenly

"What? How?"

"Slap Phil for what he did to me."

"He probably didn't do anything to you. You're just being a drama queen as usual."

"Phil's the drama queen. He walked around with a non-existent sore leg for a month and a half. Anyway, here's Gary, he'll tell you."

"What happened with Phil and Zain Gary?" Jo asked before Honey could influence him.

"All I saw was Zain saying something to Phil, and then Phil kicked him."

"See." Said Zain smugly

"But everyone's saying that you were taunting him, so you deserved it." Gary finished.

"I wasn't taunting him!"

"See." Honey said smirking at Jo, "Phil did the right thing."

"You believe me don't you?" he asked Sam and Jo. Jo nodded, but Sam didn't, doubting that Phil would really just attack Zain without provocation.

"Coming home?" Tarek appeared from nowhere, pulling at Zain's arm

"Yeah." He replied looking hurt.

"I'll come with you." Sam offered

"Don't bother."

**Like? Hate? somewhere in between? review.**


	5. First Day Back

**Big thanks to laura for betaing**

**And also thanks to Laura, Vikki, Ami, dolphincrazy, elle4phil and Becki for reviewing :D**

**I decided to leave the football thing cos i was getting extremley bored with it. Here's sam's first day of term.**

**Chapter 5**

A few weeks later, term restarted and Jo greeted a very happy looking Sam and Zain as they made their way into school.

"So you're back together then?" she asked

"We never split up,"

"Zain said sorry for being a git," Sam laughed, "And I believe him about Phil,"

"Speaking of Phil, I walked past him with his tongue down Laura's throat earlier on. Sorry Zain, looks like they're back together,"

"I'm not bothered," Zain said, clearly lying, "Well I am" he confessed when he realised they could tell, "But that's only 'cos he kicked me!" Sam nodded, but secretly she realised that Zain still wasn't over Laura. She knew Zain did care about her, but she also knew Laura was a massive slut. How long until she threw herself at Zain again?

"Where we getting registered?" he asked

"Mr. Allen's room" Jo groaned

"I thought the year sevens were getting him."

"They must have decided he's too scary for them"

"So we get him instead. Typical." Sam looked from one to the other, clearly not following the conversation.

"Don't worry, I'll show you 'round," Jo smiled reassuringly

"Thanks."

"Hey," Phil said appearing behind them

"Bugger off Phil." Zain said, though it lacked any real conviction. It was almost as if he was beginning to say it out of habit now.

"Come on, we're even now."

"We're not!"

"Close enough anyway," Phil shrugged, before turning to Sam. "Hi Sam. In case your boyfriends totally turned you against me, I'm not as bad as you'd think," he flashed her a smile.

"Stop flirting with my girlfriend Hunter." Now Zain seemed annoyed again.

"I'm not" Phil replied, keeping his eyes on Sam the whole time he was speaking. Sam couldn't help but smile at Phil when he smiled at her. Her first impression had definitely been clouded by Jo and Zain's comments. Although the first time she'd saw him she'd classed him as 'nothing special' she really liked him now that he was looking in a relatively good mood. His eyes seem to sparkle when he looked at her.

"Laura's coming," Jo warned Phil, though Sam noticed Zain's head was the one that turned, not Phil's "You'd better not let her see you talking to other girls. You know how she hates that." Phil sighed and nodded

"Talk to you later," he said to no one in particular, but his gaze remaining on Sam.

"Bye," she said, finding herself wishing that he would stay

"He seems sorry…" Jo said once Phil was out of earshot.

"Maybe," Zain admitted, watching Phil and a girl kiss, before forcing himself to turn away

"Do you still want her back?" Sam asked, dreading his answer

"No." Zain said too quickly for it to have been the entire truth, however Sam let it go.

"Okay," she replied, knowing she was sounding down and feeling worse when Zain didn't appear to notice.

* * *

"Newman Thomas" the hunched over man peered at the register and pointed to a chair a few seats down from Zain, before moving along, "Nixon, Samantha." Sam sighed and sat in the seat next to the boy, Thomas Newman, who'd been staring at her chest since she'd got in.

"Hi, I'm Sam" she pointlessly introduced herself

"No talking!" Mr. Allen roared with surprising volume for someone his size. Sam instantly shut her mouth, knowing her mum's reaction if she got into trouble on her first day.

"Ignore him" Thomas whispered, his eyes still no where near her face. Sam edged her seat slightly to the right, trying to get as far away as possible from him. She looked to the few she knew in the class for support. Jo was sitting a few seats down, chatting to a girl with dark hair; Phil was in the row in front, doodling something and Zain was in his seat, several places down staring into space.

"Nadir" Mr. Allen's voice cut through the virtual silence, "take this to B7. Now!" Zain stood up and snatched the paper out of the man's outstretched hand, leaving without a word. Apparently they were used to taking orders without questioning them in this room.

"I have to go to the office" Mr Allen said in a dark tone, "I don't want you saying a word while I'm away" he stormed out of the room, swinging the door wildly making it crash against the wall. They could hear his footsteps echo down the empty corridor and there was silence as every pupil stared at the door, waiting for it to fall shut. Finally they all heard the creak they were all waiting for, and it finally slid shut. Instantly, all hell broke loose. Some boys started throwing bits of rubber at others, half the class turned on their ipods, putting them up to full blast, all the different tunes bouncing off the wall so none could be fully made out. Thomas leered at Sam again, before shifting his chair closer to hers. Phil, who'd twisted in his seat to better aim the rubber, noticed how uncomfortable she was looking,

"That's Zain's girl. Back off."

"Yeah, like it matters to you." Thomas snapped, "You shagged his girlfriend the first chance you got. I'm surprised all he did was kick you." Phil didn't reply immediately, the piece of rubber still in his hand, seemingly forgotten. Finally he said,

"Just back off, okay?" Sam was confused. This seemed a totally different Phil to the one she'd seen at the match. This one was protective, apparently guilty for his treatment of Zain and even though she knew she couldn't admit it out loud, this new Phil was a lot sexier than the other. Phil turned away again and resumed his doodling

"I won't tell Zain if you won't" the boy said again, in a lower tone, hoping Phil wouldn't hear. He reached out a dirty hand, and placed it on her knee. Sam stared at it in shock, disbelieving anyone would try something like that in school. Slowly his hand started to slide up and Sam stood up immediately, moving away from him. The clattering of her chair must have made a noise, for Phil's head jerked up again immediately. He rounded the table to stand by Sam's side,

"You okay?" he asked. She nodded wordlessly, happy to have Phil as a barrier between her and the creep she would be forced to sit beside for the next year in registration.

"I told you to stay away from her," Phil snapped, grabbing the boy by the collar and dragging him to his feet. Silence fell over the room. Just then, Mr. Allen chose to make his return. He roared again, making the previous yell sound like a kitten's mews,

"Hunter! Put him down! We discussed your bullying last term!" Phil let go of the smaller boy immediately, and muttered,

"Sorry sir"

"Stay behind. The rest of you can go to class." He said, just as Zain returned. He glanced over at Phil wondering what he could possibly have done in his first ten minutes back. He lifted his schoolbag and hoisted it onto one shoulder, smiling at Phil for the first time in months, knowing what it was like to feel Mr. Allen's wrath, and pitying Phil, despite still unsure about what he had done.

* * *

Sam sat in chemistry, staring at the clock; sure that time was literally standing still as their teacher rambled on in his dull, monotones tone. A girl arrived ten minutes late, and Jo nudged Sam,

"That's Laura." Sam looked up instantly, trying to weigh up her competition. The girl was short, with dark blonde hair and her shirt tucked in, which Sam had come to notice, was a rare sight in this school. However her skirt was rolled up several inches above her knee, and she was attracting stares from a lot of the boys. Sam half wished Zain were in this class so she could gauge his reaction.

"Sorry I'm late Sir, I was talking to Mrs. Phillips"

"Smoking round the back of the toilets more like" Jo commented snootily.

The class continued on steadily for a further twenty minutes, and Sam realised with a horror that they still had another period of this hell. Miraculously their teacher, Mr. Brown, seemed to tire of his own voice and wandered off out of the room on the bell, saying he'd return in five minutes. Once again, when the door closed, Laura was on her feet,

"Hey! New Girl! You got my boyfriend in trouble!"

"What?" Sam asked, clearly confused

"Allen put him in detention for 'repeated bullying' just 'cos he was trying to save you from that creep Thomas."

"He'll survive" Jo said, sticking up for Sam

"Yeah, shut up Laura" Said a girl that Sam didn't know the name of yet.

"Phil knew what he was doing" Said another. Sam just smiled thankfully, and stared down at the table, avoiding the glares Laura was shooting her.

"Is she always like that?" she asked J

"Usually" Jo agreed, laughing, "The longer you know her, the easier she is to drown out."

* * *

**Feedback please :D**


	6. Lunchtime Betrayal

**Firstly, thanks to my reviewers- dolphincrazy, laura, Vikki, Stacy Ellen, Supa Scene, kelly, becki and Hogabroom for reviewing.**

**i dunno about Phil's home life at the minute. There's only one character's home life that I'm really intending to focus on in this fic, but I could be swayed to do a chapter or two from phil's pov if that's what people want.**

**Chapter 5**

At lunch that day, Sam hovered uncertainly, plate of chips in hand, wondering where to sit. Her eyes flickered over the sea of unfamiliar faces and she felt very alone in this school. Back at her old school, her and her friends had a table that they sat at everyday without fail. Who knew if Zain and his friends even took lunch in the canteen? A voice from behind her made her jump,

"Alright?" she turned sharply, and found herself face to face with Phil.

"You scared me" she laughed

"Sorry" he replied grinning back

"Where's everyone else?"

"Jo has a lunch detention for not doing her homework again; Gary and Honey are still queuing and Zain's probably at a flute lesson"

"Flute?" she couldn't help but laugh at the mental image she got.

"His dad makes him" Phil said, seeing her amusement

"I wouldn't listen to my dad if he made me do things like that"

"You would listen to his" Phil said darkly, "He's scary when he gets angry" Sam let the subject go, but personally she still felt that his dad couldn't be that bad. Phil had to be exaggerating. He led the way to a table next to the wall and slid into one of the chairs nearest the radiator,

"So what happened when you got held back in registration?" Sam asked, feeling guilty

"Nothing really" he said through a mouthful of sandwich, "I just got to go in after school for a bit. It's worth it. He won't touch you again."

"Thanks" she said gratefully

"By the way, I wouldn't tell Zain if I were you, he'll kill Thomas and then his parents'll kill him," Phil said jokingly, but Sam noticed a serious look in his eyes, so she decided to not tell Zain.

"Will your parents be really annoyed about you getting a detention on your first day back?" Sam asked, the guilty feeling returning

"They won't know"

"Don't you have to get that signed?"

"Zain'll do that for me" he said, before pausing and frowning, "At least he would if he was still talking to me…"

"He'll do it" Sam said firmly. Phil raised his eyebrows in disbelief but said nothing,

"So where's Laura" Sam asked to break the silence

"I dunno" Phil said, sounding very nonchalant, "I think if I stay away from her for long enough, she'll get the message."

"What message?"

"That I don't want to see her anymore. She's a scheming cow. Anyway, if Zain's ever going to talk to me again, I need to get rid of her" Sam opened her mouth to tell Phil that Zain had already sort of forgiven him, but then changed her mind. A single Phil Hunter couldn't be a bad thing, even though she was with Zain. It wasn't like she would cheat; she just didn't really like the thought of Phil with another girl. Especially that Laura.

"It's cold in here" she commented

"Move round a bit then" Phil said, shuffling his chair over so there was enough room for them both to sit next to the radiator. Sam hesitated.

"I don't bite" he teased

"I know, it's just…"

"Just what?" he asked

"It's nothing," she said, before moving round to sit next to him. Moments later, Jo joined them,

"You're looking very cosy" she commented

"It's cold" Phil said defensively

"Of course. I'm sure it was very cold in Laura's bedroom too. That's probably why you both had to take off all your clothes and…"

"Shut it"

"I'm just saying that's how Zain'll see it." Just then, Zain did arrive. He walked straight over to them and sat down on a seat next to Jo

"Hey," he said, barely glancing at Sam or Phil

"You not eating anything?" Sam asked, noticing his lack of food

"Forgot my money" he said, glancing around the hall, searching for something

"Here" Phil shoved his half eaten lunch across the table,

"Thanks," Zain said, lifting the crisps and fruit from the box but shoving the chocolate back across.

"I need something signed" Phil said,

"Sure, but I have to go talk to Mr. Smith for a few minutes so bring it to me in the chemistry lab in like 10 minutes?" he asked glancing at the clock on the wall

"Alright" Phil agreed, looking surprised that Zain had consented.

"I'd better go now actually," he said, standing up, heading towards the door, grabbing a handful of Gary's chips as he passed him on his way to sit down,

"Zain hungry as usual then?" Gary said, sitting down in the seat he'd left. Jo nodded silently.

"I worry about him sometimes" she said, "His mum must give him money, but he never spends it at dinner. He's always hungry, so he mustn't get stuff out of the vending machines…"

"I actually wouldn't be surprised if his dad took it off him" Phil spoke up

"Why would he do that?" Sam asked, surprised. All the members of the table glanced at each other before Phil spoke,

"I dunno, it's just his dad's a bit… well he's an alcoholic and I just wouldn't be surprised if he takes it off him to go drinking." Sam said nothing. She had no idea that her boyfriend had to cope with so much. Subconsciously, she began to shift her chair away from Phil's feeling suddenly guilty for sitting so close to Phil, even if Zain hadn't protested when he'd saw them.

* * *

As they left the table, Honey picked up Sam's bag to pass it to her, 

"That weighs a ton"

"I know, I haven't got a locker yet" Sam grimaced as she hoisted it onto her shoulder

"I'll come with you to the office if you want" Phil volunteered, "I have to photocopy my detention slip just in case Zain screws up the first time."

"Okay" Sam agreed, and they headed off together

* * *

"They're looking very cosy aren't they" Jo repeated once they were both out of earshot 

"I don't think that Phil would do that to Zain again" Honey said

"Yeah" Gary agreed

"Anyway, I heard him and Laura are splitting up. He might be looking for a new girlfriend" Honey said, looking excited. Gary looked deflated.

* * *

"Want me to carry that for you?" Phil offered 

"Thanks" Sam said gratefully, and laughed as Phil nearly dropped it

"You carrying your brick collection to school or something?" he asked

"I was just stupid enough to pick all the subjects with the massive textbooks." Sam admitted

"What're you taking?"

"Chemistry, add maths, business studies, the boring ones really. You?"

"P.E., art, music, IT…"

"Music? You play the flute too?" she sniggered

"Guitar" he corrected

"Really?" she asked, impressed, "How long you been playing for?"

"Just a year and a bit. I'm crap really" Phil said, looking embarrassed

"I'd like to hear you some time" she said

"Okay" he agreed, "but don't laugh,"

"I won't" she promised.

* * *

A few minutes later, Sam had her locker key and Phil was clutching a photocopy of a detention slip, 

"I don't believe he was stupid enough to do that for you," Sam laughed,

"Yeah, I do it a lot, he must be beginning to catch on by now." Phil laughed too. He stood back and watched her put her books into the locker, and after she'd locked the door, he touched her shoulder.

"Yeah?" she said

"Look at me…" he said,

"Okay…" Sam said, sounding confused. Phil left his hand on her shoulder, and slipped his other onto her waist. Their eyes met, and Phil slowly started to lean forward. Sam waited until their lips were almost touching before she made her decision and pulled away quickly,

"Sorry. I can't do this." She said, despite desperately wanting to.

"Okay" Phil said, looking disappointed, but forced himself to speak cheerfully, "So will you come with me to find Zain?"

* * *

They reached the lab together, neither wanting to go together, as they were both feeling incredibly awkward, but both not wanting to make the situation worse by avoiding each other. 

"After you" Phil said, as the stood by the door, Sam knew full well Phil had offered so he could get a clear view of her ass, and declined the offer, so Phil shrugged and went in first. The sight that greeted her entrance froze her to the spot. Laura was sitting on the desk, and Zain was standing in front of her, arms around her, kissing her. They broke away breathlessly as they heard the door click shut.

"Now we're even Phil" Zain said, before turning around, and spotting Sam

"Sam, I…" he began, but she turned and fled from the room, on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry" Laura said to Phil, avoiding his eyes

"I'm not. You're dumped." He said sounding completely unfazed, before turning to Zain and nodding, "We're even. But you shouldn't have done that to Sam."

"I know" he said, his eyes downcast, "Where's that slip?" Phil passed it to him wordlessly, and he signed it quickly.

"You going to go after her, or will I?"

"I will" Zain said, leaving Phil alone in the room, and Phil secretly hoping that they couldn't patch things up.

* * *

**so i bet youre all hating zain right now? but remember, he doesn't get much food, so everyone sympathises with him lol**


	7. Walking in the Rain

**Big thanks to Vikki, dolphincrazy, Vicki, Lindz26, gabaice, Rosyn Anwylaeth, someonesangelalways, Becki and Ami for their reviews. To those who didn't like Zain in this chapter, he's different in this one. **

**Enjoy**

**Chapter 7**

A few days had passed since Sam and Phil had walked in on Zain and Laura in the lab, and Zain had repeatedly told Sam how sorry he was that he'd hurt her, and Sam kept trying to remind herself that she had almost kissed Phil minutes before anyway. However, Zain had set out to hurt Phil, and she hadn't planned on almost kissing Phil. It had been a spur of the moment thing that she hadn't even gone through with.

Life was a confusing mess right now, and she didn't know who was with who. There were rumours that both Phil and Zain were with Laura, despite Phil insisting that he'd dumped her and Zain persistently asking Sam to take him back. Right now, Sam didn't even want to look at Zain, never mind date him. Unfortunately, they lived next door to one another, and avoiding him wasn't that easy.

* * *

One day, Sam stepped outside school and groaned when she noticed that it was pouring. Typically, this was the one day she'd forgotten to pack a coat or an umbrella, when she'd had them all the previous, clear skied days.

"Sam" she heard a voice calling her, and saw Phil holding his coat over his head. Sam dashed over to him and asked,

"Wouldn't it be easier to just put it on?"

"Yeah, but this way, I can share with you" he said, attempting to shelter her with the coat as well. The coat wasn't big enough, and they were actually still getting soaked through, but neither cared, because they were pressed against each other in an attempt to keep dry.

"Isn't your house the other direction?" Sam asked after a few minutes of walking

"I'm going to Zain's for a bit. My parents are away until 8"

"How can you still talk to him after what he did?"

"He's my mate." Phil said, as if that excused him from all wrong doings ever.

"That wasn't what you were saying at that football match"

"That's cos it's football. It's more important than any girl" he joked, "So you two aren't going to get back together then?"

"Not a chance" Sam said firmly

"You ever going to speak to him again?"

"Yeah. But I'm going to let him suffer for a while first" she smiled

"Remind me never to fall out with you" he teased, before turning serious, "But Zain has a hard life. Try to forgive him soon, k?"

"What's so hard about his life compared to anyone else's?"

"He's the oldest of seven kids. He doesn't get much money spent on him, and his parents prefer his sisters to him and his brothers. None of the boys get it that easy in his family"

"Oh right" Sam didn't know what else she could say

"You got much homework?" he asked, and she shook her head, so he went on,

"Come round to Zain's for a bit then. There's no point sitting all by yourself at home"

"My mum should be home in a few hours anyway,"

"Still. You don't have to talk to Zain. You can talk to me instead. That would drive him mad."

"Maybe. I want to get changed first anyway," Sam said, as they turned into her street. She went into her house and Phil gave her a half wave as he knocked on Zain's door. She went upstairs, and looked in a mirror. She looked awful. The rain had made her hair go straggly and she didn't want to see Phil looking like a drowned rat. She quickly grabbed a few towels and headed into the shower.

* * *

"You are so crap at this" Phil laughed as he beat Zain at a football game on his brothers PS2 for the fourth time in a row

"Did you say Sam was coming over?" Zain quickly changed the subject, looking at his watch

"She said she might. Why? Want her back?"

"No, I've got Laura now. I just want her to forgive me"

"She probably already has, she's just dragging it out to make you feel bad" Phil admitted, "So don't be surprised if she completely ignores you if she does decide to turn up."

"Alright" he looked pretty down about it though

"Can I use your hair gel?" Phil asked suddenly, catching sight of himself in the mirror

"Trying to impress someone?" Zain asked,

"No… Can I have some or not?"

"Sure it's in the bathroom" he said, loading up the game again

"Okay" Phil said, standing up, and leaving Zain's bedroom. Zain waited until he heard the click of the bathroom door, before he moved to the mirror, untucked his school shirt, and pulled it up, revealing a large, blackish purple bruise forming on his stomach. He heard Phil's voice further along the hall, shouting,

"I'm going to get a drink, want anything?"

"Yeah, water" he called back, and heard Phil go down the stairs. He took the opportunity to completely remove his shirt and examine the extent of the damage. There was a mass of blue/black marks all over his torso and he winced as he touched one of them. Suddenly, he spun around as he heard a creak at the door, and saw Sam standing there, staring at his bruises,

"What happened to you?" she asked

"Nothing" he brushed off, pulling a random shirt from his wardrobe over his head.

"Doesn't look like nothing" she moved closer to him, and he hurriedly backed away,

"Just leave it Sam, please" he pleaded. Sam looked like she was about to say something when Phil came back, holding a can of coke and a bottle of water for Zain.

"Oh hey Sam, didn't hear you come in"

"The door was unlocked, so I didn't see the point in ringing the doorbell" she said, still staring critically at Zain. He felt uncomfortable under her stares and said,

"Back in a minute" before leaving the room quickly

"What did you say to him?" Phil asked, taking a sip of his coke, "He looked like a deer caught in headlights when I came in"

"Nothing" Sam said, perching on the end of Zain's bed, "Remember you said about his dad being scary…. What did you mean by that?"

"Just that he shouts at him a lot, takes out all his stress on him 'cos he's the oldest. Why?"

"You mean he hits him?"

"Course he doesn't hit him" Phil said, looking surprised she'd even ask him that

"Oh okay then, I was just wondering" she backtracked

"Okay…" he said, looking at her like she was crazy. Zain returned a few moments later, sat at the floor at the foot of the bed, picked up his controller and threw the other to Phil, ignoring Sam,

"You playing or not?"

"Yeah" Phil said, presumably oblivious to the little worried glances that Sam kept giving Zain.

* * *

After a few hours, Phil did appear to notice the awkwardness between them, but put it down to their break-up and decided to Zain's relief and Sam's annoyance not to leave them alone in the room together. Eventually, Sam's mum called her mobile and told her she had to go home for her dinner, and Phil walked her to her front door.

"How close are you and Zain?" Sam asked, acting as nonchalant as possible

"I dunno" Phil answered unhelpfully

"Phil, it's important." She pressed

"Why?"

"It just is…" she said. A slow smile broke across Phil's face,

"What?" Sam asked

"You want to know whether he'd be bothered if you asked me out, don't you?" he said. Sam was about to answer no, when she changed her mind. She was interested in Phil, and just because that wasn't the reason she was asking didn't mean that she couldn't take advantage of the situation.

"Maybe," she said, her smile growing to mimic his own.

"Well he says he's over you, so I don't think he'd mind…"

"So go on then,"

"What?"

"Ask me out" Sam smiled

"Sam, do you want to go out with me?" Phil asked, smiling too

"I'll think about it." She laughed as his face fell, "Now how close are you and Zain?"

"What is your obsession with him?" Phil asked

"Just answer properly, and I'll go out with you" Phil sighed, and said,

"Pretty close"

"Does he tell you everything?"

"Course he doesn't" Phil rolled his eyes, "That's only girls that do that"

"But he tells you important things, right?"

"Nothing important has really ever happened." Phil said, looking confused, "Why? What did he say before I came in with the drinks?"

"What makes you think he said something?"

"Well you were both fine until then"

"Know what Phil?" Sam asked, as they reached her door, "You're smarter than you look"

"Thanks?" Phil said, not sure whether to take it as a compliment or not

"Just ask Zain. If you're as close as you think you are, he'll tell you" Sam said, letting herself in, "Oh and yeah, I'll go out with you" then she shut the door, leaving Phil wondering what the hell had just happened.

* * *

**Now if anyone still hates Zain after that, they're pure evil lol**

**review, telling me of you likes and hates of the chapter, and whether or not you're evil enough to hate Zain.**


	8. Jealous Phil

**New Girl chapter 8- Jealous Phil**

**A/N: sorry for the long wait between updates, I just haven't been in a very fanficy mood lately, but I just remembered I promised someone I'd have another chapter of this done by Xmas, and technically, I am still on Xmas holidays until Tuesday, so here it is :D**

**Thanks to Vikki, HuniBuni dolphin crazy and Stacey Ellen for reviewing the last chapter**

"Hey" Phil greeted Sam the next morning with a huge grin

"What are you so happy about?"

"I'm with you" he said simply, but his smile turned to a frown as he looked over her shoulder at the door

"What?" she asked, turning to see what he was looking at

"Hey Poshboy!" Phil shouted to Zain who'd just arrived. His head jerked up sharply as Phil called him the nickname he detested.

"What?"

"Where's your rugby kit?"

"I'm not playing"

"Why not? We need you if we're going to have a chance against Barton Street."

"I'm just not" he pushed past him roughly, walking towards the lockers.

"What's up with him?" Phil wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer, but then he noticed Sam look at the ground guiltily, "You know don't you?"

"I said I wouldn't tell anyone…"

"Why? What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know" she lied, though she desperately needed someone else to know about Zain's mysterious bruising, because it wouldn't be her fault if he got more seriously injured…

"But you just said…"

"Just leave it Phil, please" she echoed Zain's words to her from the previous day, wondering why she too was protecting whoever did this to him.

* * *

"I'm worried about Zain" Sam told Jo as she stood by her desk in Registration, hoping to minimise her exposure to Pervy Tom as much as possible 

"So am I,"

"But you don't even know why I am"

"There are a million and one things to worry about concerning Zain. He'll survive. Trust me."

"But I…"

"It's not your business anymore, Sam. It's Laura's now. Let her stress. The bitch deserves some actual responsibility for once."

"Maybe you're right" Sam replied, but personally she disagreed vehemently

At break, she approached Honey,

"You seen Zain?"

"He's probably in a cupboard with Laura somewhere. Is it true about you and Phil?"

"Why? Who told you what?" she asked guardedly

"Gary told me that Phil told him you're seeing each other"

"Gary's right. I'm sorry, I know you liked him"

"It isn't your fault that he'll go with any girl in the entire school as long as their not me." She said, tears welling in her eyes, "Even him and Jo, once upon a time…"

"Seriously?"

"That was before she decided she was gay."

"Obviously" Sam replied, and they both smiled at each other hesitantly, "So you've really no idea where I can find Zain? It's important…"

"Sorry, no. But there's Phil" she said, indicating a point behind Sam, "So I'd better go. I'm really not up to seeing the both of you together just yet"

"Bye" Sam called to Honey's retreating back

"Honey!" Phil called as he crossed the hall, "Honey!" but she didn't turn

"She mustn't have heard you" Sam lied

"Do you think she's heard about us yet?"

"She mentioned it"

"Damn. I wanted to be the one to tell her. You probably didn't notice, but she has a crush on me"

"Does she?" Sam asked mildly

"Yeah, so where've you been? I've been looking for you everywhere?"

"Just around. I was looking for Zain"

"Him and Laura are probably…"

"Yeah I know," Sam cut him off, sounding sharper than she'd originally intended. The bell rang above their heads

"I'll see you in maths?" she said in an apologetic tone. He just nodded.

"I'm sorry I snapped" she went on. Just then, Zain emerged from a deserted corridor, his face rather red

"You coming to Physics?" he asked Sam. She glanced between the pair, Phil looking thunderous, glaring at Zain, and Zain just looked tired, and a little confused as to why Phil was looking at him like that

"Yeah" she said finally, "See you Phil" he nodded, and grabbed her, kissing her, pushing her so hard against the wall, she hurt her back on the radiator. He looked at Zain smugly, slung his bag over one shoulder and walked away from them without another word.

"So you and Phil?"

"Didn't he tell you yesterday?"

"Nope"

"It bother you?" she didn't like to ask, but she had to know for sure she wasn't hurting him badly by being with Phil.

"Why would it?"

"I dunno. Boys are weird like that. They never know what they want"

"I do" he said holding open the door for her, "So what's with Phil? He still annoyed over me not bringing in a rugby kit?"

"No, I think he was more annoyed about something else."

"What?"

"I kept asking where you were"

"Who's the one who doesn't know what they want now?" he teased

"I was just worried about you, that's all."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"If this is about what you saw yesterday, then don't. I have everything under control."

"It doesn't look like it."

"Well I'm fine"

"Prove it"

"What? How?"

"Use your imagination"

* * *

Laura looked up at Zain and Sam suspiciously as they entered physics together. Their physics teacher wasn't strict when it came to where they sat, so the seating arrangements changed weekly, depending on the latest falling out within the class. Zain didn't hesitate in sitting next to Laura, but Sam hovered by the door, scanning for another empty seat, the only remaining one on Laura's other side, at the end of the row. She sighed and threw her bag onto the floor under the desk, and slid into the seat, trying to ignore Laura's glare. 

"He's my boyfriend, not yours" she hissed. Sam looked quickly at Zain, but he appeared oblivious to their conversation as he rooted through his bag.

"He's still my friend. Anyway, he was with you all of break. You can't keep him on a lead the whole time"

"Zain wasn't with me at break" Laura looked confused

"Then where…"

"Quiet down everyone" their teacher announced as he entered the room, a stack of heavy books in hand. Sam ignored him and turned to Zain

"Where were you at break?"

"No where really" he replied evasively

"But if you weren't with Phil, or Laura, or me, then who were you with?"

"No one"

"Miss Nixon and Mr. Nadir if you two don't keep your mouths shut, you'll be joining me at lunchtime" their teacher snapped. While Zain instantly ceased talking, Sam pressed the point in whispered tones,

"Sam shut up, or we'll get a lunch detention" he snapped

"So?" she asked, she'd gotten them all the time at her old school

"So, I can't be late out today"

"Why? Another flute lesson?" she smirked

"That's it, you're both staying behind after class" their teacher bellowed.

"Okay sir" she sighed. It was annoying, but not the end of the world, however glancing across at Zain, she noticed the colour had drained from his already pale face, and a distinctly ill look had overtaken him.

* * *

**lots more SP next chapter, i promise :D, as long as you review that is ;)**


	9. Homework and Detentions

**Big thanks to Bawbert, Rose Tyler611, Vikki and Becki for reviewing the last chapter**

**9**

"Hey" Phil slipped his arms around Sam possessively when she joined him in the line outside English

"You do your homework?" she asked

"Homework?" he asked, obviously clueless

"I'll take that as a no"

"How long will it take me to copy it?"

"You're not copying it"

"Come on Sam… I don't want _another_ detention"

"That would be your own fault then"

"I bet you'd let Zain copy it"

"Course I wouldn't"

"Please Sam!" he begged, giving her his best puppy dog look

"Fine" she rolled her eyes, but be quick, she'll be here in a minute

"Thanks" he kissed her quickly, snatching her book from her bag and disappearing in the direction of the toilets.

"No problem" Sam sighed

"It used to be my homework he copied" Honey said dreamily

"Phil copies everyone's homework, Honey" Jo rolled her eyes

"But is was usually me"

"Whatever"

"Go in" their teacher, Mrs. Michaels said, ushering them towards the door. Sam glanced around for Phil, hoping he would come back soon, but there was no sign of him. Soon they were seated, and Mrs. Michael's did a quick scan of the room,

"Someone's missing… where's Phillip?"

"I think he went to the toilet" someone said

"He should have gone at break then" their teacher complained. Just then, Phil walked in, mumbled an excuse and slid into his seat next to Sam, passing her her copy of the homework beneath the desk.

"Everyone take out your answers for questions 6 to 21 and pass them to the front" their teacher ordered

"Did you get them finished?" Sam asked

"Not quite. Close enough though. Did you do the geography?"

"Yeah, why…" she asked suspiciously,

"Will you sit with me at lunch while I do mine?"  
"Sorry, I have to go to physics at lunch. Me and Zain were talking too much apparently"

"Great" Phil grumbled

"I'll come and find you after we get something to eat"

"Don't bother" he complained

* * *

"Just sit and write out the textbook. You can leave in 10 minutes" their teacher taking the detention ordered before disappearing into the store

"You okay?" Sam asked Zain, who was looking like he was going to be sick. He shook his head silently

"What's wrong?"

"No talking" their teacher barked from the store. Sam rolled her eyes, but stopped speaking. Instead she touched him softly on the arm,

"You can talk to me you know"

"It's okay" he said, shrugging off her hand and beginning to write

* * *

"Want to share some chips?" Sam asked him as they left the room, knowing he probably didn't have any money to get his own

"No" he said shortly, walking in the opposite direction, towards the changing rooms. Sam rolled her eyes. He was probably still sulking over whatever she'd supposedly done to upset him. She didn't let herself dwell on it, and headed towards the canteen, where the smell of burnt burgers enticed her.

She had almost finished eating when a young, nervous looking boy came to stand next to her, piece of paper clutched tightly in his hand

"Are you Samantha Nixon?" he managed to stutter

"Yeah, why?"

"Mrs. Michaels sent me to find you. Says she wants to talk to you about your homework" Sam groaned and stood. Surely Phil wasn't stupid enough to copy it out word for word? He had evidently had enough practice at it.

* * *

Within a few minutes, she arrived at the English classroom, determined to throttle Phil if he'd gotten her in trouble over this. Phil was already standing there, slouching and staring out of the window straight ahead of him while their teacher ranted at him

"Nice of you to finally join us, Miss Nixon."

"I was eating my lunch" she stood to Phil's left, slightly behind him

"I was just marking yours and Phillip's homeworks, and I noticed a remarkable similarity between them. Care to explain why that would be?"

"I have no idea" Phil answered before Sam had the chance

"Miss. Nixon?" Sam glanced between her boyfriend and her teacher. She didn't want to get in trouble again. She'd hardly been there a week, but the way Phil was looking at her…

"I don't know what happened miss"

"Because it's your first week, I'll let you both off with just repeating the homework, and in future, Phillip, do your own work"

"How do you know she didn't copy me" Phil snapped. Sam glared at him

"Because your work is rushed, half done and quite frankly, what I've come to expect of you. Samantha's work is perfect. You both may leave."

"Why did you let her think I copied you?"

"Because you did" Sam snapped irritably. Any annoyance she felt towards him, however, faded as he turned to face her properly for the first time since meeting in the room.

"What happened to you?" she asked, noticing the purplish black colour that was framing his right eye.

"Remember I went to do my geography homework in the changing rooms?"

"Yeah…"

"Well I was in the shower bit, keeps me out of sight in case someone comes in and sees what I'm doing. I'd just finished, and I was ready to leave when I heard someone come in, and I knew the upper sixth rugby team was playing after lunch, so I didn't want to go out in case one of the prefects who caught me before saw me, just in case…" he paused looking worriedly

"What happened then?" she pressed

"After a bit, Zain walked in, and the other ones who came in before started yelling at him, something about being late, and then one of them hit him. So I came out, and told them to leave him alone and then there a silence. Then one of the guy's friends, he told me to just walk away, that it was none of my business"

"You didn't, did you?"

"What do you think?" Phil said dryly, "I won't bore you with the details, but there was a massive fight, and then a prefect walked in. We thought we'd be okay, 'cos we're younger, they couldn't possibly blame us. Of course, the prefect on duty just happened to be the bullying bastard's big brother, so we got hauled to the form tutor, and the little brother came out with some crap about how Zain had been picking on him for months, and now he's in with the principal"

"Why would he believe him?"

"Cos the guy who hit Zain is one of the teacher's kids."

"But Zain's got bruises all over him"

"Does he?" Phil was going to ask how she knew, then thought better of it. However, she understood the look he was giving her, and smiled knowingly

"I walked in on him getting changed yesterday while you were downstairs"

"So that's what you couldn't tell me?"

"Yeah," Sam suddenly caught sight of Zain walking alone down the corridor, hunched over, staring at his feet

"You okay mate?" Phil called to him.

"Not really. My dad's going to kill me. I've just been suspended"

"Why?"

"For 'bullying' Johnny Peterson" Zain said quietly

"He's twice your size!"

"Yeah, you wouldn't bully anyone anyway" Sam said

"Yeah, well" Zain shrugged, "I'll just have to deal with it

"No you don't. I'll tell them it wasn't you" Phil decided,

"No you won't. He'll kill me" Zain replied quickly, real fear radiating in his voice

"How long's this being going on for?"

"About a year"

"A year! Why didn't you tell me?"

"And what would you have done?"

"Stopped them"

"How? You could have got them suspended, but they wouldn't stop. I know they wouldn't" Phil didn't reply, "I'll see you later, if my parents don't kill me first"

* * *

some sp, and a little sz... thats surely worth some reviews :P 


	10. In the Rain

**quite short, but i wasn't quite in the ff mood. Quite a bit of SZ, but SP will make tis return soon. How soon depends on the reviews :P**

**On that note, thanks Laura, Vikki, Becki, Sarah, Newsteadgirl and Stacie Ellen for the previous reviews**

Chapter 10- In the Rain

Sam had to walk home alone for the first time since she'd moved house, and she instantly decided she didn't like it. She generally had Zain to walk beside her, and sometimes even Phil would join the pair, but now the loneliness was unbearable. Her heavy schoolbag was bumping against her side with every step, and to top it all off, the heavens had opened again, and she was soaking wet within a minute. As she passed Zain's house, she glanced up at his bedroom window, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She shook off the cold feeling she had when she thought of how he'd been bullied for so long, but yet how what scared him the most was telling his father of his suspension. Suddenly, she distantly remembered a comment someone had made long ago, about how Zain's father terrified even them, but then surely, his dad couldn't mind so much, once he heard of the reason for the suspension…

She was surprised to find the door unlocked when she tried it. Her parents were usually at work when she got home.

"Mum?" she called uncertainly up the stairs, "Dad?"

"Up here!" her mum shouted. Sam took the stairs two at a time, and opened her parents' bedroom door. Her mother was kneeling before an open suitcase and was frantically throwing clothes inside, while her dad riffled through the drawers of the bedside cabinet

"What's going on?" she asked, bewildered

"We're going away for a while" her dad didn't even look up at her

"Where?"

"On holiday. It'll just be for a few weeks. You're old enough to look after yourself, aren't you?"

"You're going away without me!" Sam couldn't contain her surprise

"We wanted to bring you, really, we did, but the travel agents only had two places left"

"So you just decided to go without me? What if I hadn't got back from school on time? Would you have just left without telling me?"

"We would have left a note"

"Well thanks a lot" Sam snapped, going to her bedroom and slamming the door.

* * *

Half an hour later, her mum came to her room.

"There should be enough food in the freezer to last a fortnight, but I've left you a hundred quid for emergencies only. I don't want you to have any sleepovers, or spend too long on the phone, okay?" Sam was sorely tempted to snap and tell her that it wasn't okay, but instead, she just nodded sullenly.

"I'll see you in a fortnight, then" her mum pulled her into a brief hug and walked out without a backwards glance. Sam waited for her dad to come up and say goodbye, but he didn't. He just got in the car and drove away, without as much as a 'See you in a few weeks'. Sometimes she hated her parents.

* * *

She was heating up her microwave meal when the rain started again, slamming against the window pane so loudly, that it was managing to drown out beeping of the microwave. She glanced at Zain's house again, and felt a pang of guilt. She hadn't thought about him, or his situation since her parents had made their little announcement, she'd been too wrapped up in her own little world of self pity to care about anyone else's problems. Then she felt even worse, for suddenly she remembered Phil and his black eye, and how she hadn't expressed any sympathy towards him whatsoever, despite him having received it for trying to protect his best friend.

She lifted her Motorola and sent both of her boys a text, just asking them how they were. Zain was the first to reply, saying, that he was alright, but that was only because his dad was still at work. He'd be dead in an hour when he got back. Phil didn't reply at all, but then he hardly ever did. He was forever losing his phone, breaking it, or just forgetting to turn it on. She had known that when she sent the message, and deep down, she knew she'd only sent it as an act of guilt, annoyed at herself to be thinking so much of Zain, the boy who'd cheated on her, when she had a good, faithful boyfriend, who never deserved this neglect.

She jumped when she heard a door slam outside, and she automatically moved to the window to see who it was. Zain's dad was getting out of his car, and he did not look pleased. Perhaps the school had contacted his work, or maybe he was just permanently on the warpath. It was hard to tell with that man. Sam couldn't help but move into a position where she could see the Nadir kitchen, and watched as Zain's dad approached him, and started shouting at him. Zain's back was to her, so she couldn't see him reaction, however the pair soon moved into the hall, out of Sam's sight, his father still seemingly roaring at him.

She had intended on leaving it be at that, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she sent Zain another text half an hour later, asking what was going on. She grew more and more concerned as Zain didn't reply, and was starting to consider going over to see him, when her mobile beeped twice. She raced to it, but disappointment flooded her as the name on the screen said 'Phil.' She didn't even bother to read the message, just dumped the phone back onto the kitchen table, and stared at Zain's window again, her worry for him increasing ten fold.

She eventually settled to watch Eastenders and immersed herself in the plotline, trying to blot out everything but the scandals that were unfolding on the TV screen. She flicked between channels for the remainder of the night, mindlessly flicking, and ignored her phone when the ringtone started. It would probably just be Phil. She could speak to him tomorrow anyway.

* * *

She locked the front door a few hours later, and she was just about to turn the key, when she spotted a figure in her back garden, sitting on what must have been soaking wet grass, with their back to the house. She opened the door slowly, cautiously and was hit by the gush of cold air. She shivered and called out, softly

"Hello?" the hunched over figure made no response. She stepped out slowly, onto her step, and the security lights came on, flooding her garden with light.

"Zain?" she asked, making out the jet back hair. The boy's head jerked up when he heard his name, and he stood, spinning to face her

"Hey" he said in a soft voice

"What are you doing out here?"

"Thinking"

"Thinking?" Sam was growing increasingly concerned with Zain's behaviour and responses. "In my back garden, in the pouring rain, at ten past midnight?"

"Yeah"

"Do you want to come think inside then?" she asked, stepping out of the doorway. However, he hesitated,

"Won't your parents mind?"

"They've gone away for a fortnight" she was surprised how little she cared about her parents' deserting of her now. He nodded silently, and followed her into the house, his trainers making a squelching noise as he walked. She led him to an armchair, and fumbled for the light switch.

"Did Johnny Peterson do that?" she pointed to a fresh looking bruise forming on his face. He shook his head,

"That was my dad"

"Your dad hit you?"

"Yeah. I told you he'd kill me"

"I didn't think you meant literally! Does your mum know?"

"She's not at home." There was a silence, which he broke, "I know I scared you before, by sitting in your garden… I'm sorry; I just needed to get away from him"

"It's okay."

"Can I stay here tonight?" he asked

"Yeah, you can have my parents' room. It's not like they'll be using it" she muttered, "And you'll need to get some new clothes. You're soaking"

"Am I?" Zain asked, looking down at his own drenched body for the first time

"Come on" she pulled him up and led him towards her parents room, feeling more sympathy for him than she ever had for anyone before.

* * *

**Reviews make a happy writer, and a happy writer makes happy SamPhil scenes. **


	11. Family Time Aka happy sp chapter

**This Chapter is only going to be a short, filler one, because I promised happy sp scenes and they don't fit in very well with my plot line, so here's a nice, sickeningly happy chapter instead.**

**Merci beaucoup to Laura, sam-qwen-nixon, Vikki, NewSteadGirl, Emz25 and Becki. And of course I wouldn't lie about the happy sp scenes becki:D You know the plan!**

**Bigger thanks to Laura, who actually wrote a bit of this when I was feeling uninspired**

Sam woke up early, and looked in on Zain on her way past. He was sprawled out, under the covers, still unconscious. She decided to read the message she got the previous night, and as she'd guessed it had been from Phil. She opened it and read the message quickly

_My mum doesn't care I got in a fight. She never does._

_Wb soon_

_P_

As she got out a box of cereal from the cupboard, she dialled Phil's mobile, knowing that she'd probably be waking up, but well, that was what he got for being lazy.

"Hey Sam" he sounded tired, "What's up?" Sam glanced guiltily at the stairs, thinking of Zain, and said

"Any chance I could see you today?"

"Yeah, course. What time?"

"In a few hours?"

"How about 2. I want to go back to sleep"

"It's 9 o'clock Phil!"

"It's early for a weekend!"

"Fine, I'll see you at 2, in the park" he hung up as soon as she finished speaking, presumably to go back to sleep.

She heard a creak on the stairs and turned with a smile to face Zain. His dark hair was sitting funny from where he'd obviously been lying on it, and his black eye had turned an even darker shade of purple. However, he looked happier than he had the previous night, so Sam said,

"Me and Phil are going out later. You can stay here if you want?"

"Yeah, thanks. I'll go home tonight though" he promised. However, Sam could tell from his tone that he was still terrified of what might happen if he did.

"You can stay here as long as you want" she said, _until my parents come back_.

"Thanks" he hesitated, looking at the cereal,

"Help yourself" she passed him a bowl.

* * *

She left the house alone that day to meet Phil in the park. He was there on time, for once, and was holding two ice creams

"It's too cold for ice cream, Phil" she laughed

"It's never too cold for ice cream" he argued, "If you don't want yours, I'll have it"

"I'll take it!"

"It's too late now, you've hurt my feelings," he teased, holding it away from her.

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting at the base of a tree together

"I still don't believe you ate two ice creams," Sam rolled her eyes, "In under 10 minutes. In winter!"

"It's not winter yet" he stretched out against the tree trunk. She rolled her eyes, but decided to let it go. She laid her head on his chest and he stroked her golden hair. Sam yawned. "I could go to sleep here." She said tiredly.

"You can if you want. But I can't promise to wake you when I leave." Phil grinned.

"Thanks"

"Well you can come to mine if you want, meet my mum"

"Yeah, that actually sounds fun" she sat up, "Have you told her about me yet?"

"Course not! She thinks I'm still young and innocent!" Sam laughed softly, and let Phil pull her to her feet, and kissed him, impulsively underneath the tree

* * *

"Right, so you remember the story? You're just a friend."

"It's not exactly complex, Phil" Sam rolled her eyes, "And anyway, don't you think it's time you told your mum that you have a girlfriend"

"Nah, I think I'll wait until we're both forty. And preferably married." He grinned cheekily

"You think we'll still be together in twenty five years?"

"Course we will" he said confidently, "It's not as if there's anyone better around here"

He opened the door and called,

"Mum! I'm home!"

"It's about time! You didn't even tell me you were leaving this morning! Your lunch is ruined!" she came into the hall and her tone changed instantly, "Phillip, you didn't tell me we have company" she glared at her son.

"Sorry" he said in a bored tone. "This is Sam. She's the new girl in my class at school. She moved in next door to Zain in the summer,"

"That reminds me. Zain's mother called. She said he stormed out last night and hasn't been home since. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No" Phil said, sounding worried, "Have you?" he asked Sam. She shook her head innocently

"Maybe we should go look for him" Phil said,

"He'll be fine" Sam argued. "He's probably spent the night at Mickey's or something."

"His mum said she called everyone that's on Zain's mobile, and they're all saying they haven't seen him" said Phil's mum

"Well they would say that if Zain asked them to cover for them" Sam pointed out, and Phil nodded slowly

"Yeah, she's right. He'll be fine." He turned to Sam, "Want to meet my little brother?"

"Yeah" she agreed, relieved to be away from the Zain discussion, "How old is he?"

"Nine"

"I wish I had a little brother"

"No you don't" he said shortly, "They're the most irritating little…."

"Phil!" his mum cut him off

"Look, just come meet him and you'll see for yourself"

* * *

"Nice to meet you Samantha" Steve smiled innocently after Phil had introduced them

"Don't be fooled" Phil hissed, "Once he gets to know you, he'll be pulling your hair and stealing your stuff!"

"I wouldn't have to steal it if you shared" Steve said obstinately

"Ignore him"

"Can I have a sweet?" Steve pointed to the box on Phil's windowsill

"No" Phil pushed him out of the room

"Why are you so mean to him?"

"I've got his best interests at heart. If he eats too many of those, he'll get fat"

"And you won't?"

"I work out"

"Maybe you'd better give me half of them, just in case…" she dug her hand into the box and stole a handful

"Aright, as long as you don't give _him _any."

* * *

**it just sort of stops, i know, but i wanted to get back to the plot in the next chapter lol**

**reviews are love**


	12. In the Park

**Many thanks to Vikki, stacey ellen, sam-qwe- nixon, newsteadgirl and huxon13 for reviews**

An hour later, Phil got a call from Jo, and agreed to meet her and some others at the park. He and Sam walked there a lot slower than they'd intended and arrived ten minutes late, at which time Jo in particular was getting impatient.

"And I thought he was slow before he met you" Jo chastised as they arrived. Sam laughed lightly, and turned to her boyfriend. He was looking around the park distractedly, before fixing his attention on Jo

"Where's Zain?"

"How should I know?"

"No one knows where he is."

"He'll be fine. He's probably just walked off somewhere by himself"

"For two days?"

"Jo's right" Sam interrupted, unsure exactly why she was lying for him, to his friends, "He'll turn up." She turned away from the rest of the group and walked to a picnic bench, hoping that they would follow her. To her relief, they did after a few seconds of what she assumed would be concerned glances.

Phil slid next to her on the end of the bench, and Jo sat on her other side. However, as Gary sat opposite them, Honey remained standing, looking at the seat next to him suspiciously

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, pleased to have something to talk about other than Zain.

"Nothing. It's just I… I think I dropped my purse at the gate. Will you come help me look for it?"

"Yeah okay," Sam said, getting up

"I'll help" Gary volunteered

"No, it's fine" she said, and then took Jo's arm firmly, and pulled her towards the entrance, while Sam followed slowly, leaving Phil and Gary alone together.

* * *

"So really, what's wrong?" Jo asked abruptly

"Gary asked me out"

"What did you say?"

"I didn't want to, but…"

"But you said yes to save his feelings" Sam realised. Honey nodded

"This is stupid. Either tell him that you don't like him, or I will" Jo decided, "It'll be better in the long run, trust me."

"I just don't want to hurt him." Sam saw her shoot a worried glance at the table where Phil and Gary were still seated, and she noticed a look of realisation flicker across Jo's face for a second.

"Sam, go back to the boys for a minute, will you? We'll be over in a minute" Sam complied, but felt a little hurt that Jo didn't seem to trust her enough to include her in whatever she was about to tell Honey.

"Look," Jo began as soon as Sam got out of hearing range, "This is going to hurt, but listen. Phil's with Sam. He likes her, and it won't matter how many guys you send packing because of him, he won't notice, because he's a boy, and they're clueless like that. Even before Sam came, he still didn't look twice at you, because he just doesn't think of you like that. I'm sorry, it's harsh, but it's the truth"

"I know, but I just keep thinking that maybe, when he gets tired of everyone else he'll come back to me."

"I know, but it's just not going to happen."

"The first time I met him, I liked him" she said, sounding depressed

"The first time Gary met you, he felt the same" she reminded him

"He's nice, and he's not bad looking, but he's…"

"Not Phil."

"Exactly"

"Well let him down gently then."

* * *

As Honey trudged wearily back to the group, she tried to talk herself out of what she was about to do, but she knew she had to tell Gary that she didn't, and probably would never feel the same way about him. It would be hard though. It was unlikely that she would continue to have his unwavering support in everything now, but she could live with that, as long as he didn't completely hate her.

As she neared the group, she noticed that they were no longer simply seated on the picnic benches. Instead, Sam was standing at the base of a tall tree, staring into the branches as Gary and Phil clambered up them, Phil clearly in the lead. Honey joined Sam in staring helplessly upwards, knowing there was a good chance that one, probably Gary would fall on top of them.

"What are they doing now?" Jo asked

"Phil bet Gary he could climb that quicker than him"

"Of course he can," Jo sighed, "What's made Gary so deluded lately?" Miraculously, they both reached their decided spot unscathed, and Phil called down to them,

"Coming up?"

"Not a chance" the words were out of Honey's mouth before she even had the time to think about them. Maybe that was why Phil preferred Sam. She actually looked like she was considering it, before shaking her head

"I'm fine down here."

"Come on Sam" Phil whined, "Have some fun!" However, she shook her head, and returned to the bench, Jo following. Honey looked between the pair of girls and the boys, before making her decision. If Gary could climb that tree, then why couldn't she?

* * *

"I asked Honey out." Gary said, as he sat with Phil in the tree

"Finally. What did she say?"

"Yes" Phil laughed as he saw the huge grim spread over the younger boy's face.

"Told you she would"

"Yeah, I know. Thanks." Phil glanced down and saw Jo and Sam sitting together, before forcing himself to sound as casual as he could

"Seen Zain around?"

"Nope." The other boy sounded so uncaring. But then he probably didn't know about the bullying. When Gary looked down too, he suddenly asked,

"Where's Honey gone?" Phil quickly scanned the area

"I dunno." And then at the same time they both saw her, directly below them, attempting to climb the tree.

"Alright Honey?" Phil laughed as he saw he struggle, but the smile fell from his face as he saw her lose her grip and tumble from the tree. Wordlessly, he slipped effortlessly down again, and knelt by her side, as Sam and Jo ran over, and Gary began his descent, looking too like he was having difficulty.

"Honey? You okay?" Phil asked cautiously. The blonde girl nodded, but looked dazed, "Come on, we'll go back to Sam's house. It's closest" Phil decided, and helped her up. She looked unsteady, and leant against Phil as they went slowly back.

* * *

Sam couldn't help but feel Honey was acting more hurt than she really was for a bit more attention from a certain boy they both liked. However, suddenly, something else sprang to mind. Zain was at her house, and had been all night. What would Phil think when they got there? Unless Zain had already left… but that seemed unlikely, she was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

reviews are love in this streessy exam time. 


	13. Break up?

**Thanks to vikki, PS4EVA, lil-skating-lindz, Newsteadgirl, becca996, kelbobs15 and Stacey Ellen for reviewing. For those that asked, or wished me luck, the exams went v well thanks :D **

**Here's the next chapter, and I warn you now, you're not going to like it lol. **

Everything would be okay, Sam reasoned to herself as she walked. Worst case scenario, she could lie and say Zain let himself in, and then she could make it up to him later. Maybe he wasn't even there. He could have left long ago, and maybe he was home by now...

When she let herself in, whatever she'd been thinking, she wasn't prepared for her, her friends and most horrifyingly, her boyfriend to be met by the sound of running water coming from the upstairs bathroom.

"I thought you said your parents were out of town?" Phil was the first to comment on the noise

"Maybe they're back. We should probably bring Honey somewhere else." Sam turned to go again, grateful of the excuse.

"Your mums nice. She won't mind" Phil said, leading the way into the kitchen.

"Okay, but can we be quick?" Sam pleaded, "I'm worried about what my dad will say."

"Sure, whatever" He didn't move any quicker as he helped Honey into one of her chairs, while Sam herself dropped into the one beside her. She glanced nervously at the floor above her as she heard the water shut off, and she rose again quickly,

"Can we please go?"

"What's the rush?" Gary asked. Just then however, a fully clothed Zain came down the stairs, hair dripping wet, and leaving large droplets on the wooden floorboards.

He saw the assembled group the same moment they noticed him. Nothing was said for an elongated period, before Phil broke the silence,

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Didn't Sam tell you? I was here all night" Sam cringed inside, hating her own inability to tell the truth to her boyfriend the first time around

"All night?" he sounded accusing and he turned to Sam. She was almost afraid to look into his usually friendly eyes, "So when I was wondering where he was all day today, you just forgot to mention he was lying in your bedroom?"

"He wasn't in my bedroom" Sam was quick to correct, but it didn't seem to matter to him, and then to complete Sam's personal Hell, she heard the telltale click of a key in the front door, and her mother's singsong voice calling to her,

"Sam? We're back!"

Moments later, she and Sam's father were in the kitchen, looking around the assembled people in surprise

"You didn't say you would have company while we were away" her dad frowned

"You didn't even tell me you were going away, until you left" Sam countered, ignoring her friends for the moment

"Well it doesn't matter now," her mum said firmly, "Was it raining? Zain, you're soaking wet"

"He got caught in a shower" Phil said dryly

"Oh, would you like a towel to dry yourself?" she went into motherly mode, unable to look at the boy dripping onto her usually spotless floor

"No, I'd better be going" he said, glancing towards Phil, a place that Sam still couldn't bring herself to look.

"So had we" announced Honey, seemingly having made a miraculous recovery, "Come on Gary" One by one, Sam's friends made their excuses leaving the house and her alone with Phil and her parents.

"Phillip, are you staying for tea?" her mum may have noted the tension between them, for she was shooting Sam's father glances that seemed to say, _Get out and give them some space._

"I'd better go home too thanks"

"I'll walk with you, part of the way" Sam suggested

"Don't bother."

* * *

"Come on Phil, it's not that big a deal" she was exasperated now, after twenty minutes of arguing with Phil over the phone, and so tired, because it had taken them to midnight to actually reach the stage of talking.

"Not that big a deal? I was worried about him, and you didn't say that you knew where he was"

"I said he was fine"

"You said he was probably fine. That doesn't mean anything. And anyway, you never said exactly what happened last night…"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think Sam?"

"Zain and I didn't sleep together."

"Why should I believe you? You used to date, you're always together and he stayed the night last night"

"Believe it or not, I'm not that little slut Laura you and Zain both seem so fixated on, and Zain's not you!"

"Meaning?" Phil sounded dangerous now, and Sam knew that this was one of those moments that could destroy a relationship, if she wasn't careful. Unfortunately, at that point, she was past caring.

"Meaning that he has some degree of self control." She hung up after that, and disconnected the phone to prevent him ringing back. She didn't think she could take another argument like that.

Her mobile beeped later, signifying the arrival of a text. Against everything inside her that hated Phil, she dived for the little phone like it was a lifeline. When her trembling hands managed to open the inbox, she crumpled inside to see a different name from the one she'd hoped for.

_Zain-_

_Feeling ok?_

Raising a hand to wipe away the new tears that were forming, she replied with a single word,

_No. _Seconds later, the reply shot back

_I'm sorry_

She wanted to write_ 'Not your fault'_ in reply, but couldn't quite bring herself to. She knew it wasn't his fault he was bullied, not his fault his dad knocked him around, but really, why couldn't he have left this morning, before Phil had turned up? Why did he, the one who had cheated on her, have to be the good guy, while it was the boy she was with now, the one she thought she might even be in love with, who didn't trust her? So instead, she sent

'_It's fine._' To Zain instead, before turning off her mobile and stuffing it into a drawer, and climbing into bed.

* * *

"Sam, we have a surprise for you" she woke with a jolt, to find both her parents standing at the foot of her bed, large, plastic smiles forced onto their faces

"What is it?" she asked, naturally suspicious of anything her parents would consider entertaining

"Well it might shock you to know that we actually do listen to you from time to time…" her mum began, "And I know that you always said that you hated this house, so…" And then Sam noticed the blankness of her room. All her posters had mysteriously disappeared, and the top of her chest of drawers was clear.

"We've decided to move" her dad concluded, "Today."

"Today?" Sam nearly screamed, "We can't move. I don't want to move again."

"But you always said…"

"That was before I made any friends. You can't make me leave again."

"You'll make new friends. You can't be that close, we haven't even been here a year yet"

"Mum!" Sam appealed,

"I'm sorry Sam, but we've already sold the house."

"How can you sell the house without telling me?"

"It's just one of those things, really."

"One of those things?" Sam wondered if her parents were insane.

"Now you can call your friends from the road"

"I don't even get to say goodbye?"

"No time. Sorry." Her dad shrugged, before leaving the room, her mother smiling apologetically before following.

* * *

**It's not the end. Reconciliation will follow. For now, enjoy the angst lol.**


	14. Another New School

**I love all of my reviewers- vikki, becca996, PS4EVA, gemz, I-Love-Will-Turner and Becki **

**thanks for thereviews and input :D**

**This was only meant to be one chapter but it expanded into two, but fear not, Sam will return to Sun Hill shortly!**

Another mysterious midnight move. Another new school. Another few months of solitude before Sam eventually managed to get some new friends. It was times like these that she hated her parents more than anything. Her father for having his big, important job that demanded so many changes of addresses, and her mother for being so eager to comply.

She'd always been used to losing her friends after a few years, but this was different. She had only been at Sun Hill for six months, but she had allowed herself to become attached to the people there, because she'd believed it would be a further three years before her parents moved again, and she knew that by then, she would be eighteen, and free to make her own choices, and live where she liked.

And then there was Phil. She'd contacted Honey, Jo and Gary on the road, and she'd met Zain during the hurried departure, but she'd refused to dial Phil's number yet. She was too sure that this was just some sort of horrible dream. That she wasn't really leaving; that Phil and she hadn't spent their last times together arguing over Zain, for what did he really matter, in the grand scheme of things? He was a friend. A good one at that, but Sam had learnt in her lifetime that friends were as variable as the weather.

What could she possibly say to Phil anyway? He probably didn't want to speak to her, so what was the point of trying? She could leave the explaining to Jo, and she assumed that she would keep in touch with her at least, so she could keep her updated with all the goings on within school, such as who had fallen out with whom and who Phil was screwing nowadays.

So she lifted up her mobile and sent one final message to Jo, before putting it down on the unnaturally clean shelves, and returning to the monotonous task of unpacking

* * *

"Sam's gone." Jo announced as soon as Zain stepped over her low garden wall

"I know" he sounded heavy hearted, and no wonder Jo realised, as in the short time they had known one another, Zain had grown closer to Sam than even Phil. In fifteen years of friendship, Zain had never once told she, or Gary or anyone else about getting bullied. But he'd told Sam.

"Come with me" she decided suddenly

"Where to?"

"To tell Phil."

* * *

Phil reacted exactly as Jo had suspected he would. First with surprise, before turning to denial, and then anger would come, before he finally accepted she was gone for good.

"What do you mean she's gone?" he'd snapped when Jo had approached him with her best sympathetic voice

"Her parents are moving again"

"They wouldn't just have gone without telling everyone."

"Well they did, Phil"

"Why didn't Sam tell me?"

"She didn't know until this morning."

"She called you! I'm her boyfriend!" for the first time, Phil turned to Zain, looking furious, "I bet she told you" Zain glanced at Jo, hoping for advice for how to handle this, but her face was impassive, Slowly, he nodded,

"But I'm next door"

"What the hell does that matter? She should have told me"

"Maybe she was worried about how you'd react." Jo suggested. Phil seemed to consider this for a second, before nodding. He sighed, and sank down onto the park bench.

"You should call her" Jo said

"Yeah, do you want to use my mobile?" Zain reached into his pocket, but Phil's glare stopped him

"I don't need anything from you. This is all your bloody fault anyway."

"What did I do?"

"If it wasn't for you, we'd still be speaking, and then she would have said goodbye."

* * *

A tentative knock on the door awoke Sam from her thoughts once more. Her father's head appeared as he opened the door a crack and peered inside.

"Can I come in?" Sam shrugged, but sat up as he entered. She saw a Motorola box in his right hand, and she asked

"What's that?"

"A peace offering." Her eyes lit up instantly, pleased at last to have a decent phone. Automatically, she reached for her old phone, and removed the back cover to free her sim card.

"Don't do that." Her father sounded irrationally annoyed by her actions and she looked at him quizzically, "Your old phone's sim card won't fit. You'll have to copy the numbers over by hand, I'm afraid." Even that task didn't dampen her spirits at seeing the new phone, with thoughts of Phil placed firmly at the back of her mind.

* * *

"No answer" Phil frowned as he hung up

"She's probably just busy unpacking" Jo guessed

"Or she's avoiding you." Zain said, from his position several feet away.

"I told you to shut up" Phil looked like remaining calm was an effort for him, and Zain shrugged again

"Well I'm going home. If you ever stop feeling so sorry for yourself, call me and we'll go play football. If not, just stay away from me. You're not the only one that misses her, you know."

* * *

"Mum! Where's my mobile!"

"You're holding it dear" her mother rolled her eyes as Sam burst into the living room like a rocket, looking panicked

"My old one!"

"Oh that. I threw it out. I didn't see the sense of keeping it"

"But I hadn't copied my old numbers over yet!"

"Oh. That is a shame" her mum didn't look as sympathetic as Sam would have hoped, "Well I'm sure you'll make plenty of new friends soon anyway."

"That's not the point!" But as her mum resumed her hoovering, Sam knew that she didn't have a clue what she was going through.

* * *

Sam could feel the eyes of the entire room on her as she entered through the door of her new class. One particular girl was staring at her with open dislike already, and Sam couldn't help but wonder what she could have possibly done wrong so far. The boy sitting next to her was slightly plump, with greasy black hair, and he too was fixating her with that emotionless stare, judging her before she'd even opened her mouth. She wished more than anything that Jo was here, because never let people treat either of them like this, or Phil because if she had him, nothing and nobody else would matter.

Forcing a smile onto her face, she sat where she was told to and stared determinately at the white board. If she was to go through this hell, she me as well learn something.

* * *

Honey stretched forward and tapped Gary's shoulder when the teacher went out of the room in English,

"Are we okay?"

"Why wouldn't we be?" he sounded uncharacteristically cold towards her

"Because I treated you like crap. I'm sorry."

"It's fine" he replied, although they both knew it wasn't, and he turned back to face the front in silence.

* * *

"So where'd you come from?" the girl from earlier asked Sam at lunch

"Sun Hill"

"Figures" the girl snorted

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Everyone knows that all the girls from there are sluts," she shrugged before turning away. Sam couldn't bring herself to correct her, to defend her old school and herself, and instead stared resiliently at her meal.

"Don't listen to her" a male voice startled her, and she saw the boy who sat beside the same girl earlier on hovering behind her, "She just made that up."

"Thanks" Sam replied, although she wasn't quite sure what for

"I'm Stuart Turner" he offered her his hand in a ridiculously grown up fashion, and after a moments hesitation, she took it,

"Samantha Nixon"

* * *

**Well people, do you like, or not? **

**Press the big blue button ;)**


	15. Stuart

**Merci to everyone who reviewed the last chapter:D you all made me smile. This one's going to be jumping between sam and sun hill again, but she'll be back home again by the next chapter.**

Sam locked the bedroom door behind her, and closed the curtains, determined that there would be no distractions this time. Sitting down at her desk and grabbing a pen and sheet of her mother's most expensive letter paper, she began to write.

_Dear Jo_

_Sorry about disappearing like that. You know what parents are like… __Life here is hell. No one speaks to me, I've lost all my old numbers, and my computer isn't even working yet, hence this letter. _

* * *

"His name is Stuart Turner…" Jo glanced up at Honey as she read the letter aloud

"Maybe she doesn't mean it in that way…"

"She goes on to write another page and a half about him. I think it's safe to say she likes him."

"So when are you going to tell Phil?"

"I'm not"

"He deserves to know."

"Ignorance is bliss." Jo said, putting the letter back into her drawer, "Anyway; she wanted me to give out her new number to everyone." Honey accepted the small slip of paper from her wordlessly, apparently lost in thought.

* * *

"This is Sam's new number" Jo handed one each to the three assembled boys. Gary took it without a second thought, stuffing it into the back pocket of his jeans, probably to never be seen again. Zain and Phil, however, looked more suspicious

"Where did you get it from?"

"She wrote me a letter" Jo looked to Honey beseechingly, silently begging her to change the subject. However, she turned away, suddenly becoming unnaturally interested in a crow that was pecking the ground nearby.

"What else did it say?" Zain asked

"Nothing really… just some stuff about her family, her new school, new friends…"

"New boyfriend?" Phil asked, his tone calm, but his eyes burning a hole in her.

"She didn't say" Jo lied, her guilt increasing as Honey shot her an accusing glare. Phil seemed not to notice, as he went back to doing whatever it was he had been doing on his phone before Jo had arrived. Zain, on the other hand, seemed to sense her discomfort and stood up slowly, stretching

"Football?" The life that the single word had given the other two boys was incredible, and both were instantly on their feet, muttering affirmative answers. Zain nodded in the direction of the chip van and went on "I just want to get a drink; you can go get the ball from my back garden if you want."

With more energy than Jo had him display in weeks, Phil shot forward, shouting over his shoulder to the trailing Gary

"Race ya!" Despite Phil's obvious lead, and his faster pace, Gary set off after him resiliently. Zain stood by the two girls for a moment, before sitting down again

"So what did the letter really say?"

"It…" Jo began, before being interrupted by Honey

"Sam's met a boy"

"Thought so" he looked heavy hearted by this revelation, "So when are you going to tell Phil?"

"Phil doesn't have to know," Jo sounded firm at first, before relenting slightly, "Does he?"

"If I were him, I'd want to know."

"You're probably right" Jo sighed

"How come it's right when he says it?" Honey objected

"Because he isn't obsessed with Phil" Apparently finding no response to this, Honey fell silent, glaring at the ground. Spotting Phil's return, Zain stood and said

"I'd better go buy that drink. I won't tell him if you don't think I should, but…"

"I know"

* * *

Sam looked up in relief as Stuart slid into the seat beside her at lunch time

"Where were you?"

"Didn't do my English homework" he shrugged, reminding her of Phil. Trying to shake off the pang of sadness she felt upon even thinking about him, she slid closer to the only boy to even look her way since Sunhill.

"Who did you eat with before I came along?"

"Cindy, mostly"

"Cindy?" she choked on her drink, remembering how she'd treated her on the first day. Stuart gave a half shrug

"She's my cousin"

"I thought you hated her"

"I do, but I had nowhere else to go" she noticed a small blush creeping up the side of his neck at his confession of his own unpopularity, before he corrected himself, "It's not like I don't have friends. I do. They just all happen to go to a different school." Sam knew the feeling.

Her mobile vibrated in her pocket and she scanned the contents of the message she'd received with a smile

_In double maths. Shoot me now._

_Text back_

_(Phil)_

"Who's that?" Stuart's voice brought her back down to earth with a bump and she remembered where she was

"It's just a boy I used to know."

"Right… know how?"

"Jealous, Stu?" she avoided the question with a raised eyebrow, counting on his embarrassment to make him drop it.

"A little" she was surprised at his honesty, "So what did you mean?"

"He's my ex"

"How long has he been an ex?"

"Since the day before I moved here."

"Are you gonna text him back?"

"Are you gonna stop being so possessive?" she countered, "In case you've forgotten Stuart, I'm your mate, not your girlfriend"

"Sorry" he muttered, and she felt a little remorseful, knowing that like Zain, she'd flirted with him, despite the seemingly undying attachment she felt towards Phil. Swallowing heavy, knowing full well what the implications of her actions would probably be, she swiftly typed a message, making sure Stuart managed to catch a glimpse of it.

_Can we talk later?_

* * *

"Who the hell is Stuart?" Phil snapped as he stepped out of the classroom, Zain one step behind him.

"Dunno" Zain shrugged, despite having a good idea who it could be, "Maybe it's a relative." Phil looked at him dryly

"Oh come on. She meant that to hurt me."

"I don't think she did."

"Jo! Who's Stuart?" Phil shouted, seeing him in the corridor.

"Did you tell him?" Jo directed the comment to Zain, who shook his head

"You knew!" Phil rounded on him too

"I knew that there may or may not be a boy who Sam may or may not be interested in"

"And that's all that it is. She fancies him. Nothing else." Jo interjected in a soothing tone.

"Doesn't sound like nothing else." Phil showed her the phone, "

"She would have told me" Jo said with more confidence than she felt.

* * *

"What do you want?" Sam said as her dad arrived in her bedroom. She had learnt to fear these little impromptu visits of his

"Your mother and I have booked two hotel rooms in London, near Sunhill this summer. I thought you might want to go and visit your friends." Sam's heart leapt, wondering if she was imaging this

"Yeah! Thanks!" was all she could manage to blurt out

"Oh and there's two beds in your room, so you can bring a friend if you like."

"Can I bring Stuart?"

"If you want" her father said absent mindedly, shutting the door behind himself on the way out.


End file.
